Why do many people in the USA refer to handwriting as "cursive?" When I was a child it was simply called handwriting, or script. While the term, "cursive" is reasonable, I don't understand why the change. Do they use the term in the UK and elsewhere, or is it just the USA?
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti
It was pretty much universally known as "joined-up writing" when I was at school. I remember seeing the term "cursive" used in books, but don't think I ever heard it spoken.
In the OED (2nd ed.), the first citation is from 1784 in William Fry A new vocabulary of the most difficult words in the English Language. The book was published in London. The word exists in other European languages, e.g., French and German. I believe it developed from the field of paleography, and was originally used to describe certain kinds of writing in the Middle Ages and the Classical period. I have read about the difference between Roman cursive and the kind of writing done by carving capital letters into marble and other kinds of stone.
I think it's more likely a difference based on age. I'm not even sure if students are taught cursive in a separate handwriting class as my generation was. Instead almost everybody learns typing (or keyboarding as it is called). In my day, that was a skill split along gender lines. Fewer boys than girls took typing.This message has been edited. Last edited by: zmježd,
And...remember, I was describing my kids, z, and not my own education. My kids also were taught keyboarding, and computers were a big part of their classes and curriculum. Yet, they were taught "cursive" as well, and that was the word their teachers used.
